The Voyage of the Earth Queen
by Aiwendil
Summary: Aiwendil sets out on a journey to Eldamar with the legendary Legolas


**The Voyage of the Earth-Queen**

            In the last days of the TA of Middle Earth, after the adventures of the Grey Company and just after the battle of Pelennor fields, while Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, Elladan, Elrohir, and the remnants of the rangers that followed Aragorn to the Paths of the Dead were in southern Gondor, it happened that Legolas saw the sea for the first time. The Eldarin yearning for Eldamar was awakened inside him and an idea began to form in his mind. This idea was not seriously considered until after the WR when things began to calm down, but when Legolas was leading a number of Elves of the Woodland Realm to Ithilien (to beautify the war-ravaged land), he once again saw the sea. Again this desire for the lands of Eldamar was put off, but it began building inside of him until he could no longer hold out against it. In FO 120, after the death of Aragorn, Legolas finally got a group of elves together to sail over the Sea. He also took Gimli with him, because after their time in the Fellowship together they had become inseparable. Nothing is chronicled of the voyage after the start, but that is because they were never seen again in the lands of Middle Earth.

            Since I am Aiwendil, one of the original company that sailed for Eldamar, I shall attempt to tell you of the journeys we had and what we found across the sea. Beware, for I am old and apt to leave out slight details, and since I have much work in my new position as chief assistant to Lord Legolas (as he is now called) the installments to this epic tale may be few and far between. I hope this will not be hard to bear for those of you who cannot wait to hear the next parts, but I am an old elf with many responsibilities, so you must bear with me. Now I begin my story….

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            As we loaded the things onto the three boats, called the Elessar, the Calacirian, and the Kementári, I was a little hesitant about leaving the land I had called my home for so many years, but when I looked out to the sea my heart swelled with a joy that cannot be expressed with words, and I knew that I must go with Legolas and the others. I was to travel in the Kementári with Legolas, Gimli, and two elven twins named Tuor and Turgon. Tuor and Turgon always seemed to be arguing about something or other and in my opinion, they should have been put in different boats from the start, but being Legolas' cousins, they got special privileges.

            We set off at first light with the Kementári in the center, the Elessar on the left, and the Calacirian on our right. It was hard work rowing, but after a while you got used to it. Gimli was opposite me, and for his small size, he was likely doing more than the twins and myself combined.

            Legolas had been silent ever since we set off and he looked like he was deep in thought. Gimli had only spoken once and that was to threaten Tuor and Turgon that if they didn't stop arguing that he would throw them overboard. That made them be quiet for half an hour, but after that they forgot about the warning and continued their arguing. I actually didn't mind, since I was busy thinking about things back home in Mirkwood and about what things would be like when we got to Eldamar.

            At sundown we stopped for the night. The wind was in our favor and it kept the sails full. I don't think Legolas slept at all. He just kept staring out toward the Elvenland like he was in a trance. Gimli, who was asleep, muttered something about "never toss a dwarf," whatever that meant, and I finally decided to get some rest.

             We got an early start the next morning, and the elves in the Calacirian woke up to a startling surprise. During the night, their boat had sprung a leak. The leak was halfway up the side, so water only came in when the waves splashed against it. Since we had neglected to bring any pitch, they just appointed one elf to bail out the water when needed. 

            Later that morning, the sky that had been cloudless when we started our journey began to get darker and darker. Intimidating clouds began to form ahead of us and the waves started to get heavier and heavier. The elf that had been assigned to the bailing was having a hard time keeping up with the water coming into the boat, so the captain of that boat assigned Parmanor, an educated elf who was not very strong and therefore not much help rowing, to the Calacirian to help get rid of the water. Legolas stirred, as if coming out of a trance, and made sure of his belongings under his seat. He carefully fingered the handle of the beautiful yew bow that had been with him through countless battles.

            "Gimli," he said with a low tone. "This is the work of Gaerys. We must watch these clouds; we don't know what mischief he could be up to."

            "I was afraid of this!" said Gimli in a loud voice. "The Valar must not want us to cross the Sea! They have sent the Maiar of Ulmo to send us back!"

            "Don't take this so heavily, my friend. Gaerys is known for his unpredictability. I doubt that this storm will bring us much trouble," Legolas replied.

            At the time I did not know what they were speaking of. I had heard of Gaerys and his treachery against the Valar, and of how he was brought back to the side of good, but why he would be trying to make trouble for us was beyond my comprehension.

            Despite Legolas' words, the storm ahead began to grow and the waves began to toss the little Elven ships back and forth on the sea. Gimli, who was not the least bit interested in going into the stormy sea, leaned closer to the middle of the boat, as if to avoid some unseen enemy. Legolas had taken out his bow and gripped it nervously as he searched the dark and cloudy horizon for any sign of the storm letting up. The storm got worse and worse, and soon all the rowers were soaked. Gimli looked like a drowned rat in his dark clothes with his hair hanging down.

            The storm stopped getting worse for a while, but it didn't get any better either. Everyone in each of the three boats was drenched, and with the wind whipping around us it was very cold. All of a sudden, a huge wave rose under us. The boats climbed up the wave, but as the boats got to the top of the wave, we looked over a huge precipice down to a trench that seemed to extend to the bottom of the ocean itself. The Kementári teetered on the edge of what seemed like disaster. Just as we started to go over, Legolas stood up and raised his bow over his head and shouted, "Ulmo! Uinen! Light of Nénar give us strength!

            As Legolas stood and bravely faced the torrents of water, he did not show any signs of fear. I, however, was on the verge of panic as I realized that this could be the end of our voyage. I seemed to live a year in a moment as we went over the edge into what seemed to be certain doom. But amazingly, the water seemed to rise up and cushion the fall. We sped forward across the now flat and calm sea with the momentum from the dive. The imposing black clouds seemed to dissolve into a gentle and refreshing mist that showered over us slowly.

            "Praise be to Ilúvatar!" exclaimed Legolas just before he collapsed into the bottom of the vessel.

            We were all ready to collapse, and as the sails were full of a wind that was carrying us directly toward our destination, we all joined Legolas in peaceful oblivion. It wasn't long before all of us were motionless in the bottom of the boats enjoying our precious hours of slumber.

            I was the first one to wake up. I estimated that we had slept nearly twenty-four hours. I moved silently to the rear of the boat to get some food. I took a large chunk of elf-bread and a few sips of miruvor. The elf-bread filled me up quickly and the miruvor warmed me down to my bones. I felt refreshed and overjoyed as the miruvor gave me new endurance. I looked around for the first time and I saw a dark spot on the horizon. I was convinced that my eyes had deceived me and I looked again. I stared in amazement as I realized that I was seeing the ancient land of Eldamar.

            "It is a beautiful sight, is it not?" said a voice from behind me. I looked behind me to see where the voice came from. Legolas was standing and looking off into the horizon toward Eldamar.

            "It is very beautiful, and we aren't even close to it. It looks like Middle-earth before the Shadow came over it. I was very young, but I remember the Shadow slowly creeping through Mirkwood." I replied.

            "I too," said Legolas, "was just a young elf when the Shadow came to the Great Wood. It has improved considerably since the fall of Sauron. The Huorns have calmed since new Ents have come. Elessar did well to find the Ent-maidens." He paused for a moment and his countenance became grim. "I suppose that will not matter to us any longer now that we are arriving at the Elvenhome. Perhaps we will regain our immortality now that we are here. Many of us have aged considerably in the last 120 odd years. Arwen was one of the first of us to die, but she was not the last by far. Even my father Thranduil could not bear to leave with Elrond because he was in love with the riches of the Dwarves."

            The wind kept us steadily on course and we got closer and closer to the shore. There were beautiful trees and fields filled with wildflowers. The sand on the beach was white a pure white and continued right up to the tree line. In the distance I could see the outlines of great mountains. The sight reminded me of the Misty Mountains that I could see from back home. I saw that Legolas was ready to shed a tear. He had left behind the graves of his father and mother in the deep forest glens of Mirkwood. I had left behind my mother, who had been too sick to go with Elrond and too old to go with us. She had cried as I left, and I wondered if I would ever see her again.

            Gimli began to get up. He saw the coast of Eldamar and started to exclaim, but stopped as he realized the mood of his companions. I looked to the other boats and saw that a few of the elves in the other boats had gotten up and were gazing at the shore. A few of them had tears streaming down their faces. Tuor and Turgon were still sleeping soundly. I cried silent tears of joy and I wondered what our lives would be like in this new world of elves?

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            Oh my! I have forgotten! I must meet with Lord Legolas to discuss the new treaty! I will return to you another day, but I cannot promise that it will be soon, because things are busy in the land of the elves. Until we meet again!


End file.
